The present invention relates to a housing, preferably an exterior rearview mirror for vehicles, especially motor vehicles, in which at least one optical sensing device is positioned and which has at least one window for emitting and/or receiving signals by the optical sensing device.
It is known to position within the exterior rearview mirror of a motor vehicle an optical sensing device with which, for example, lateral road surface areas are detected in a contact-free manner and which comprise a computing or evaluation device. Such sensing devices can also be used for obstacle recognition, distance measuring, monitoring the area to the rear of the vehicle etc. The beams emitted by the sensing device exit through a window from the housing to the exterior. Also, the beams will be received through the window by the sensing device in the interior. It has been found that such windows will steam up so that the function of the sensing device is impeded and, under certain circumstances, the sensing device will not function at all.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to embody a housing of the aforementioned kind such that a safe and secure functioning of the optical sensing device is ensured.